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43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 26, 2004 Marcy Guilland tries her luck on a Video Lottery machine at Howiee�s on Front in downtown Medford. Guilland is typical of Video Lottery players, who generate the overwhelming bulk of Oregon Lottery revenue. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Scratch the surface The reliance on revenue from the Lottery has some asking what’s on the other side of the coin By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Nestled in the corner of a Medford bar on a Friday afternoon, Marcy Guilland is helping educate Oregonians, fix state park bathrooms and improve wild salmon runs — four bits at a time. Guilland is playing one of the Oregon Lottery’s 10,287 Video Lottery machines, betting 50 cents on hands of electronic five-card stud dealt in lightning fashion. With every losing hand, Guilland generates more money for economic development, watershed protection and treatment for problem gamblers — more public programs fueled by Lottery profits. "I put in my $20, and I can sit here and play an hour or so, sometimes longer," says Guilland, 54, of Medford. She points to the glowing portion of the screen showing she has eight quarters left to play. Advertisement "It goes up, it goes down," Guilland says. "Up and down." The pattern is different for the Oregon Lottery, which turns 20 this spring and is raking in record earnings for the state. Created by a 1984 initiative, the lottery has ballooned from earning less than $30 million a year for public programs in 1985 to become an $893.2 million behemoth that earns more than $364 million a year for the state of Oregon. "I never dreamed it would raise that kind of money," says Kent Aldrich, a Salem accountant who was one of the five original lottery commissioners. "I don’t think anyone knew what the impact would be." Those numbers are expected to increase if the Oregon Lottery Commission adds video slot machines as proposed next year to help raise more than $60 million annually for the Oregon State Police. The increased play and growing reliance on Lottery profits to finance the public good has Oregonians questioning whether a healthier bottom line for the Oregon Lottery really is healthy for players like Guilland and the programs that rely on her 50- cent bets. "It’s purely for entertainment," she says. "I have no anticipation of winning." And Guilland is not playing alone. More than one out of five Oregonians have joined Guilland by playing the Lottery’s video-poker machines in the past year. Research in Canada concludes that these machines are some of the most addictive forms of gambling, with one out of every 28 players reporting that video poker creates a problem in their life. Adding video slots to the mix — or "line games" as they are called in the industry — is expected to create more money, more players and more problem gamblers than ever before. "More people are going to be playing them. I don’t think there’s any argument against that," says Jeff Marotta, problem-gambling services manager for the state Department of Human Services. "If we’re going to see several thousand more people experimenting with these games, one out of every 28 people who just try it — just put a quarter into it — will report problems down the road because of their play," Marotta says. "It poses some interesting policy questions." Dale Penn, a former Marion County district attorney who is the Lottery’s new executive director, points out that Oregonians asked for the Lottery and have not only increased play but boosted the public programs its profits fund. Penn notes the Lottery not only helps fund gambling recovery, it also pays for research and education to help people overcome gambling problems that stretch far past Scratch-it tickets and video poker. "Any good thing to an excess becomes a problem," Penn says. "I don’t like the term ‘loser.’ Nobody does. The reality is that these dollars are coming from average Oregonians." Studies show the typical lottery player is the typical Oregonian. The average lottery player has some college education, a household income of $45,000 a year, is about 41 years old and just as likely male as female. Guilland fits the bill. A former advertising representative, she moved here four months ago from Washington with her husband, who owns an insulation business now working on the Rogue Valley Medical Center expansion project in Medford. She’s a mother of two, a grandmother of one and drives a Mercury Mountaineer. She invests $20-$40 into the Lottery once or twice a week. Last week, her $20 turned into $48.50 when she was done playing. "I was quite proud of my $20 investment," she says. "But in the long run, I’m still down. I’m a realist." Guilland is pleased some of her losing bets go to good use. "Not having it wouldn’t alter my thinking, but it’s nice to know it’s going toward improving the environment and education," she says. Aldrich, the Salem accountant who served on the first Oregon Lottery commission, says he now questions whether relying on gambling is an appropriate method to raise money for the public good. "I don’t think state-approved gambling is for the greater good," Aldrich says. "I don’t think it’s good for the community as a whole. It takes food out of kids’ mouths." Every dollar that helps fix campgrounds or buy textbooks was first a dollar spent on a losing ticket in a convenience store, or five worthless cards on a video-poker screen. "Someone’s lost that money. That’s what I don’t like," Aldrich says. "But you can say that about (taxing) cigarettes or booze or gambling. "Which one of these sins do you want the most?" he says. "All. That seems to be the reaction." David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, says attacking gambling as a form of "sin tax" doesn’t hold water. Lotteries are voluntary to play, but the benefits they provide are universal. "If you don’t participate in the games, you can still benefit from them," Gale says. Moreover, the revenue generated by lotteries essentially is income for the state in lieu of taxes, Gale says. "If any lottery was not in existence today, would those services be cut or would my taxes be higher?" Gale asks. "One of those things would have to happen." What can also happen, Marotta warns, is that those profits for public projects could vanish as quickly as they came. South Carolina lawmakers had enough social troubles with video-poker machines that they unplugged them five years ago. Nova Scotia has canceled its contracts with vendors and is pushing their games into a casino-like environment after a study showed that regular players at vendors represented just 25 percent of video-lottery players, yet accounted for 96 percent of the lottery’s revenues. There also is growing competition from American Indian casinos and online gambling sources. "There are forces that could come into play to change the rising tide of Lottery revenues," Marotta says. "It’s a real competitive industry. Things can shift relatively dramatically in a short period of time." Penn says Lottery profits are a "funding stream" that he and the majority of Oregonians believe is an appropriate resource for public programs. "I think all these programs certainly are priorities to Oregonians," Penn says. "How much you rely on it is a value choice." Aldrich says his two years on the commission — he was replaced when Neil Goldschmidt was elected governor in 1986 — were plagued by second-thoughts about the negative impacts of state-sanctioned gambling. "I went into it neutral," Aldrich says. "Our charge was to raise money. But that was always in the back of my mind." Despite his beliefs, he still buys a half-dozen Megabucks tickets a year when the payoffs get huge. "I don’t know why I do it," he says. "It’s ridiculous. But like everybody (says) ‘Somebody has to win it.’ "It could be me." That Friday afternoon in the Medford bar wasn’t Guilland’s day. "You’re about to witness my last hand," she says. She draws two pairs. Her 50 cents turns into $3. A few more flashes of video cards and it’s all gone. Guilland checks her watch. "Oh, well, that’s pretty much right on average," she says. "One hour and six minutes, and my $20’s gone. "That’s entertainment." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers